Founding Brothers Summary

Founding Brothers is a historical non-fiction, centering on key moments both in post-revolutionary America and in the lives of the Founding Fathers. Joseph J. Ellis examines how the individual relationships of the Founding Fathers influenced or were influenced by the unsettled period in which they lived. This book uses the lenses of hindsight and foresight to understand both what these men went through and how history has come to understand them.
The most famous duel in American history took place between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr July 11, 1804. Ellis tells the most common version of the duel, which states in accordance with the rules of a duel in that time period, Hamilton and Burr shot at one another from about ten paces on the plains of Weehawken, NJ. Hamilton was wounded and died the next day. Burr, who had no wounds, would never recover his political standing after his duel with Burr.
Aaron Burr at the time of this famous duel was Thomas Jefferson's Vice President. Previously he held the offices of Senator and
He also introduces to the readers a crucial theme of his book, which is the importance of compromise, the importance of the individual relationships in the early Union, and the strict beliefs that the Founding Fathers had for one another. Since they knew each another so well and were very aware of the importance of reputation, their disagreements reproduced very high stakes. Starting with a violent clash, Ellis sets the stakes for which these men had learned to debate one another. Other stories end in violent death, but the reader now understands that Ellis views these relationships as heated and fanatical. The fine line between private life and public is often difficult to recognize among political figures whose lives and ideals were so closely tangled. Ellis's version of the Jefferson and Adams relationship will be explicitly